Why corruption is high at ports, by report

WHY is corruption endemic at the ports? It is because of ineffective administrative practices, weak institutions and poverty, among others, says a report on the Corruption Risk Assessment (CRA) of six ports.

The ports are Apapa and Tin Can in Lagos State, Port Harcourt and Onne (Rivers), Calabar (Cross River) and Warri (Delta).

The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-Corruption Reforms (TUGAR) and Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) commissioned the work.

ICPC Chairman Ekpo Nta, who presented the report in Lagos at a validation meeting, said it was prepared by the group’s consultants, Constantine Palicarsky and Chibuzo Ekwekwuo.

Corruption, the report said, was high at the ports because of poverty and related cultural issues, adding that there are 70 million people living below poverty level in the country.

It said: “In addition, serious security problems make the situation even more difficult for entrepreneurs. This generates additional costs for clients and contributes to the delay in port processes. For instance, proposal for 24-hour operation of the ports cannot be implemented as a result of security concerns. Besides, the host community seems to be a problem in itself and often local communities feeling alienated mount organised pressure to demand money from operators. This is noticeable particularly in the Warri port.

“Indications for state capture exist particularly in Onne and Warri ports, where concessions have been given to Intels as a terminal operator. Also there is no independent place or institution to report corruption occurring in the ports. Complainants have no direct access to ICPC and the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) in the ports area or access to alternative virtual mechanisms. Complaints submitted to port agencies are often referred to the very subjects against whom the complaint is filed, or immediate but compromised superiors. As a result there is huge reluctance to report corrupt demands, and stakeholders fear subtle but effective reprisals if they do,” they explained.”

The report said, while attention is on restructuring operations at the ports including adoption of the Landlord Port Model and concessioning of many ports to private concerns, attention is not given to the agencies, their internal and external environment. Consequently, the organisational culture within those institutions affects their operations in the ports, the report said, adding that insufficient attention is given to ethics development, deployment and compliance monitoring issues at the ports.

It said Nigeria still doesn’t have an approved National Anti-Corruption Strategy, adding that the system of checks and balances is not entirely effective and needs to be improved.

The report said: “The nature and limits of legislative and executive oversight needs to be better codified and made more predictable. Also, policy volatility is a major problem. The effects of this include multiple regulators and agencies at the ports in the past few decades. The controversy on the direct inspection contracts at the ports and borders is another example of policy volatility.

“The declared policy and concession framework required securing direct inspection companies to provide technology, equipment, training and inspection services such as scanning, for a number of years. They were required to use the contract period to train and equip customs officials, and handover operations and equipment at the end of the agreed service period to the Nigeria Customs Service. It would appear that now the contracts have ended, there is reluctance to allow customs takeover.”

The report noted that despite the adoption of Information Technology (IT) in conduct of ports’ businesses as well as Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA), many operations are carried out manually with the attendant errors and corrupt practices.